The Reconciliation War of Tear (Fourth Age)
by Minodrin
Summary: About the war set 42 years after Tarmon'gai'don, in which Tear reverted to it's old social system. Please write some reviews.
1. Writers Intro / Setting Info

This story is set 42 years into the Fourth Age. The Tairen High-Lords have begun to return the social system that was before the Dragon gave the Tairen commoners all kinds of new rights compared to the lords.

It was mainly written as a background history for the mud(multi user dungeon) I am working on, but I considered it good enough to be able to publish at a site like this.


	2. Chapter I, Into the War

Chapter I

Into the War

It all begun at a rainy winter day in the Stone of Tear, at the beginning of the New Year. Most of the High Lords and Lesser Lords had under the last few years begun to try to return the old ways before the Dragon Reborn took over Tear. Several harsh measures during the last 3 years had almost taken away half of the commoners post-dragon rights, and the mood in the nation was glum and angry.  
The High Lords Weiramon, Tolmeran, Timolan, Valdemon, Belman, Sanchez, Osiellin, Amalsin, Andiama, Selorna and Berama were summond in High Lord Tolmerans quarters in the Stone of Tear. They were planning the next move for restoring the old system when a servant came bashing trough the door.  
"I am very sorry High-Lord's, but this urgent message came just in to High-Lord Timolan. It's from Godan sir, and it's marked with the most urgent sign".  
Timolan ripped the roll of paper from the servant's hand and sent him away. After quickly reading trough the letter he let it drop to the ground, and said terrified to the rest of the lords "Godan has fallen". After his announcement everyone in the room was startled and confused, and soon Weiramon said "Fallen to whom. Mayene are totally incapable of launching such an attack, and any army entering Tear that far beyond the border would have been spotted, and the High-Lords Cerandin, Carlomin and Sunamon are all in the east of Tear right now. Carlomin even has a small permanent army there! How?". After several agreeing nods from the rest of the High-Lords Timolan said "It is they that have taken Godan. It seems they have rebelled, and in a surprise move taken over Godan.". After this was said all the High-Lords seemed startled mostly, but several seem terrified, and seemed not to find the words until Weiramon spoke up and screamed "Why?", at the same time as hitting his fist at the wooden table he was sitting by, almost breaking it. Timolan said almost in panic "I don't know. I'm not a bloody Aes Sedai, but I bet 10000 gold pieces on that they have something to do with this."  
A fierce discussion followed, with plans ranging from invading Godan to declaring war on the Aes Sedai. High-Lord Selorna even said that noone would expect them to invade Illian now. Angry glares from the rest of the High-Lords made him decide to stand silent for the time being.  
It was decided that they would send messengers to the rebels, trying to find out what they wanted. It was also decided that the reserves would be called in, to get ready for a long and bloody war.  
  
  
The High-Lords Cerandin, Carlomin and Sunamon stood around a big marble table at Carlomins palace in the city of Godan. A large map covering Tear, Mayene and the south parts of Haddon Mirk and Moredo was in the middle of the table. Cerandin spoke out "I doubt they will attack us before they have at least tried to talk to us. They might be three times more than us, but should this become an all-out war it will cost them allot, and they know it. Besides, Valdemons and Sanchez main lands are all within striking distance of our armies. They will be strongly against any attack at us before they are sure we cannot be bargained with". 

Sunamon replied "I suggest we try to bargain with them. After all, we do not want to conquer Tear, we want to make sure that the commoners get their fair share, not just the little scraps our fathers and grandfathers gave them"   
Carlomin nodded to it, then said "All good and well, but I really doubt they will agree to our demands with the relatively little threat we pose to them. I think me and Cerandin should move in our armies to be ready to take over Sanchez and Valdemons territories, while you Sunamon are to ready an army mostly of Cavalry units to move into central Tear. With that we might be able to bargain better, and if need be, attack." The two other High-Lords glanced at each other, and after Cerandin nodded to Sunamon, and he back, the plan was agreed on by all three leaders, they each left into their own rooms to discuss this with their followers.   
Little did they pay heed to the servants who cleaned the room afterwards and were fully free to notice the composition of troops set up on the map at the table.

A commoner named Retin Chialin was walking home from a hard day of work at his small, but fertile fields. "All that I do for the honourable lords here, I would imagine them repaying me in some other way than giving me more work to do" he though out aloud. Ah well, he though. Soon he would be home in the arms of his loving wife, and the ditches he had dug today would be able to hold of the floods that came with the winter storms. No more work for several days, unless the local lord managed to find him yet another thing to do.

As he saw his house he noticed his wife waiting outside. Strange, as she usually kept inside for warm at this time of the year, he wondered. When he got closer he noticed a white piece of paper in her hand, and wondered what it might contain.

"Good day wonderful wife." he said in a casual tone"You hold bad news in your hand assuming from the glum look you are giving me now. What's in the letter?" he asked thinking that he would be called in for repairs at the local mansion. "You are being called into the army", his wife said sadly, "A war has begun", and then she started almost crying.

"What? Against whom? Are you joking?", he asked startled. The last war had ended most of the nobles desire to go to war again. And Illian was not especially aggressive now? Who could it be he wondered? After his wife had gone into their little stone house and dropped the letter to the ground he picked it up and started reading "_Retin Chialin. You have been called into the army, under lord Jersin's command. Report yourself to lord Jersin's mansion immediately. Take any spare clothes you wish to use with you"_

After he had read the letter, he still wondered what this was all about, and walked on in to talk to his wife. "Isbella, what is happening here? What am I being sent into?". 

"Light! Look after where you are throwing those knives of yours!" shouted Ricao Tzuni at one of his comrades who missed badly on where he meant to throw his knife. Several commoners were in a corner of the Inn, throwing knives at the head of some poor soul who tried to resist when the rebel forces took over the city. Looking at his hair, he might even have been a rich merchant, although that was in the past for him now. Two days ago Lord Cerandins army had taken over the city, assisted by almost half of the population of the city. The lucky ones of the resisting nobles had died fast. The really lucky didn't get their heads used as target practice.

Most of Ricao's friends had spent the last two days playing dice, having fun with knives and using the local brothel. There had been surprisingly little looting. The High-Lords on their side had secured the palaces, and noone else was in the mood of looting their own homes. Some of the villages and towns out in the country had not been so lucky though.

After he finished his thoughts, a solder in full armour stepped loudly into the inn then, hitting his fist in the wall and exclaiming "Tomorrow morning the army will move out. Anyone wanting to join may do so at the grand square today until sundown. There will be lots of looting of the nobles palaces, and a chance to do some good for yourself and other too." he exclaimed "And take that head down too" he said as an afterthought.

Hmm, the army. At least it will be more fun than getting killed when the "loyal" High-Lords enter the city and kill half it's population. I I'll join up, Ricao decided. "Hey guys, anyone of you be joining the army. Better there than here I suppose." After a while most of his friends said they would join too. Although some of them decided to stay home with their families, that day seventeen commoners walked out of the inn to join the army. Most didn't think they would survive.

Around a large round table sat High-Lord Carlomin, his two generals and four lesser lords at his sides. A large map of Tear was on the middle of the table, heading towards Carlomin. "My fellow High-Lords think we can bargain with them. I do not. They will never bargain with someone they would call rebels. Our only hope lies in taking over as much of the nation before they can react, and drawing in masses of commoners. Lord Ermon, you will start a massive recruiting campaign in our homelands, and you, Lord Hedryn, will try to recruit people from other areas, like this city. Generals, move our armies into position to take Sanchez lands, and when you think you can launch an successful attack, do so." All the persons around the table nodded, and General Ferwyl said in a normal tone "As you command milord, but may I ask what will the other High-Lords do when notice that you are attacking?". After looking at him, he quickly though if it might have been best not to say anything at all. High-Lord Carlomins face seemed all red and angry, and his hand seemed moving towards his belt-knife. Then he shouted "You do not question my orders ever. If you do, you won't live to regret it. You will go and complete the orders I have given NOW, or I will make it sure that it is your head that the commoners use for target practice next. Move!". After a blink of an eye the generals and lords ran away from his apartments, and a few minutes later the guards at the city gates wondered why a man with generals markings on him ran trough the city wall like the Dark One himself was after him.

High-Lord Weiramon was standing proud in a secluded corner in the Stone of Tear, with his three generals around him. "Those fools who would call themselves High-Lords think they can bargain their way out of this. They say that we can end this war without bloodshed, but what happened at Godan then, yes? Our best hope lies in attacking them fast and with resolve. Our forces lie just five days from their border at High-Lord Sanchez lands, and my instinct tells me that an attack there will allow us to win this war in a twenty days at most after crossing their border. With me presenting our loyal High-Lords the city of Godan and the heads of the deserters, I will become King of Tear, and you my dear friends, will be equally gifted." He exclaimed as nothing could ever go wrong. After all, his father had been one of the Dragon Reborn's closest allies, and he would become an even greater man.  
His generals bowed their heads respectfully and departed slowly. As soon as they had passed into a place were noone would hear them, one of them said "Is he mad? Whatever we can muster up against him this fast, we will never be able to take on an army that has been prepared for a long enough time to be able to take eastern Tear without any resistance, much less we will be able to conquer Godan", general Suiano Zuvari said in an almost common tone. General Mercands remarked swiftly "He might be mad, but if we do not do as he says, we might well find ourselves at the end of a rope.". The rest of the generals looked at each other with worrying glances, fearing that they were already dead. Then Zuvari stated as a fact "If we cannot win with what we have, then we must get more. We will recruit everyone at Sanchez lands, and those that do not join, will be joined. It is the only way". The generals all seemed startled and worried after these words, but soon all three nodded.

"Well, High-Lord Tolmeran. Care to explain why you have summoned us at this early hour? As a matter of fact, why do you think you can summon us at all? We are all equals to you, and we will not accept this. If this is about the rebels, they are already to be taken care of, so..." High-Lord Weiramon spoke out as if he was the centre of the known-world. None of the other took any notice of him.  
"I have devised a plan to crush them, utterly and totally." Tolmeran spoke out while scrolling up a map on a table. "High-Lords Timolan and Osiellin will be ready to move in at High-Lord Valdemons lands. He seems to have fled there to organize a defence. Foolish to run, but it will most likely secure that front until we decide to move in there. High-Lord Selorna will organize a fleet at Tear. You will all send ships to him. As for the rest of you, we will prepare an supreme attack into High-Lord Carlomins area from Sanchez lands. Now, does anyone here have anything else to say?". After finishing he sat down on a chair, looking as calm and controlled as ever. The rest were still studying the map on the big stone table, or whispering among each other.  
"Your plan is all good and well, but tell me this. Why should we just send our ships to Selorna just like that, and although are flanks are strong, what about the middle. You haven't said a word about the middle" High-Lord Berama said in a protesting manner.  
"You will send your ships to Selorna because it is the only way, and you do not need to worry about the middle, leave that to me. I know exactly how to win at the middle." he said plainly. Standing up he walked casually to the map, picked up three small figures, one a horseman, two pikemen and put them right between the two other armies that were on the map. "I have quite confidential information that I can win at the middle" he exclaimed while looking at Berama.  
  
As light winter raindrops fell down on Ricao's new armour and helmet, he wondered whether he would get cold in these. He was quite angry over that his captain was the kind of man believing that every tree they passed concealed an enemy. Everyone was forced to carry his armour and sword all the time. At the first day someone had decided to remove his armour, at which the captain responded by dragging him behind a cart for a full days march. Noone had tried to remove his armour after that.  
They had just struck camp, just like they had done for the past two and a half weeks. He was forced to stand guard duty again, a forward guard about 1 mile from the camp. "Hey Ricao. I have been thinking", his fellow guard said "With the speed we have been marching, we should be almost at the border to Sanchez Lands now.".  
"Yeah, we better be. And with a little luck that captain of ours will die in combat too" he smirked. "Then maybe we will be able to get some rest. You know how hard it is to sleep in one of these breastplates.". Ricao though about how he never believed he could fall asleep from pure physical exhaustion. He had really tried to do that with the local women he though while forming a small smile on his lips.  
"You know what I heard from a guy that is a servant of our captain. In about two days we will meet with the main army. After that we'll begin to invade Sanchez immediately. I hear that he has rich lands, but I don't think they will be so rich much longer now, yes?" the guardsman said while trying to suppress a smile.

Retin Chalin stood bored in a line with the rest of the common infantry. They had trained the last two weeks on standing and moving in closed formation. He though they might actually be quite effective, although from what he had heard from the War of the Dragon Reborn, he suspected the cavalry would charge at first chance. Not that he had any problem with that ofcourse. That way he wouldn't have to fight at all he though.  
"All right you lazy commoners! You are now officially trained as light spearmen. Tomorrow we will start moving towards the border. I expect you to be ready at dawn!" shouted the young bannerman that stood before them. After those words the soldiers moved backwards almost in one motion, towards the kitchens. Seeming from what food they had got during the training, the nobles seemed to think that infantrymen didn't need to eat since they were going to die anyhow.  
"Wow! It seems we have my favourite food again today, hard bread, vegetables stolen from the closest farm, and my favourite: water heated a full day in the glorious Tairen sun." exclaimed Caon Tunges , the banner-groups trickster from behind. Retin though about the time that he had seen Caon with some food stolen from the nobles. A small smile came to his face when he though about how he had seen him repair the latrines the next day. He was right though. They had received the same food, from the same tent, made by the same dirty chef, every day for the last two weeks. Atleast during the march here had had food from his home with him.  
He took his food on a dirty wooden plate, and found at somewhat clean spot to sit down on the ground on. It was as muddy here as in any larger town, even if this camp could only have been here for three to four weeks.  
Right then he heard shout's from somewhere at the edge of the camp. It seemed that everyone had heard it, and looking further towards the direction that the sound came from, everyone seemed to be running somewhere. Then he heard clearly what was shouted: Enemies!  
"Enemies? Here? What is happening?" Everyone in the camp seemed to have heard now, and they were almost all running towards the armoury. Then he noticed that he was too. People streamed into the pathway from between the tents. Retin noticed some poor soul that had been trampled down in the mud. As he quickly looked backwards he noticed about five horsemen cutting down several of his unarmed comrades.  
As he reached the armoury, he noticed that he would never get a spear in time. The entire building was surrounded by an impenetrable barrier of soldiers, and all the racks outside it were already empty. A quick glance back showed him that the horsemen were already halfway to him.  
Right then some punched him lightly in the back and said "Hey Retin. Take this spear. I took two as I supposed that someone like you might not get here in time to get one yourself" one of the friends he had got during training said to him.  
"May the light shine on you Cristof. You just saved my life I suppose. But lets get outta here now before those horsemen get here. I hardly think that only five of them could do this, but I do think that they are all heading towards the armoury. Unarmed men are allot easier to kill I suppose." he said relieved and hopeful. He and his friend started running into a small gap between two tents.  
"We should try to find some more soldiers and organize effectively. Then we might actually have a chance" he said hurrily while looking to one direction in case of enemies. He started turning around and said "We ar..." Retin started to say, when he noticed the most terrifying sight in his entire life. His friend had lost his head, and the bloody corpse that once belonged to him was falling down to the mud. As he looked up he saw a huge man in iron plates with a longsword, on top of a black horse in iron plating. His surprise and terror lasted only a few seconds though, and he started to trust forward his spear towards the man, hoping to atleast push him of the horse. Almost immediately the horseman chopped of the end of Ricaos spear, and the rest of it flew out of his hands from the blow. He was certain he would die now, when he noticed someone coming out of a tent at his right side. The horseman noticed the man too, but too late as he had already throwed himself on the horseman, knocking him of his horse.  
Relief and joy swelled trough Retin for an instant, but then he noticed his friend Cristof in the mud, with a full spear still in his hands. He created an evil smile, and picked it, walking slowly towards the horseman and the soldier fighting in the mud. The horseman's armour greatly hindered his movement, and the soldier had almost managed to make him stop fighting when Ricao throbbed the spear into the horseman's head, splatting blood on him and the soldier.  
"That was for Cristof you swine." he said almost calmly. The soldier looked up from the horseman, onto Cristof's body, and then nodded respectfully up to Ricao.  
"My name is Kunao Mercandes, and you would be?" he said in a casually tone, after which he wiped of the blood from his face with his shirtsleeve.  
"I am Retin Chialin. I will go kill more now" he said angrily.  
"I have nothing else to do either, so I will go with you. That horseman has a very fine sword, don't you think" he said while smiling and picking up the sword.

The fight was almost over at most places they got too. Almost half of the soldiers in the camp had died, and the rest were split up as reinforcements for other bannergroups, but the war had begun now, and it would not end until everyone at one side had died or surrendered.


	3. Chapter II, The Two Provinces

# Chapter II

The Two Provinces

Lord Carlomin sat around his table, his generals and four lesser lords nervous and afraid of what he would say next, with one of them almost sweating. "So, how has the attacks gone so far? I am anxious to see what you have accomplished since I met you almost three weeks ago.". All the people looked worried and hoped another one of them would begin, when one of the generals spoke out:" We have prepared our infantry in an offensive position. Even as we speak, the captains will be reading the orders we have given them. By the time we have returned to the border, our armies will already have crossed it at several locations. We have ofcourse forbidden them to get involved in any greater battle, were we will be needed to lead." he said while moving the infantry-pieces forward on the map. Then he lifted the cavalry-pieces up and said "And as for our cavalry. We used them to inflict heavy damage upon several bannergroups near the border. The success rate was 20-50%. We lost practically all of our cavalry, but the damage they inflicted was worth it".

"What! You wasted the cavalry! Are you total idiots! We need our cavalry to stand against theirs at the least. Do you expect the infantry to be able to do anything?" he shouted towards the generals. Then he picked up on the cavalry pieces in his hand and said "Do you wish to explain why you did so, or shall you suffer the same fate as this small piece of wax?", then he crushed the piece in his hands.

All of the generals stared on what was left of the piece in amazement, and two of them wondered why they didn't faint. Noone seemed eager to speak, least of all Ferwyl, the general that spoke up before. Everyone around the table was quiet for a couple minutes, until the other general, named Gerad, spoke up.

"Cavalry is an formidable enemy in battle, but they have more. Allot more. Almost all of the horses are trained in western Tear, and they control it. At best our cavalry would have been outnumbered five to one, and wouldn't have succeeded in doing any greater amount of damage to the enemy. This way we gave the enemy heavy casualties, and will be able to invade quite far into their lands before any greater army meets us. And as for their cavalry, we were planning of using long iron pikes at the three forward lines in our infantry. They should be able to counter most of the cavalry charges." he said, surprised at how casual he managed to sound.

High-Lord Carlomin seemed to consider these words for a while, after which he said "If you are wrong in what you did, we are all going to die, but you, you will die before the rest of us, and you will not have as easy a death .Go to the front now, and keep me informed". After these words everyone at the table sighted of relief, but only general Ferwyl seemed to remember that they were probably not going to win this war.

Mihel Esobhar was getting ready for dinner today. He had just came home from a village meeting, where they were discussing the war. Not that he though much about it. From what he saw, nothing would change whatever side won. The lords would rule and the commoners would serve. He had managed to strike several good deals though. Supporting the local lord had allowed him to rent more land for farming cheaply, and with the new barn he had spent winter and autumn build on his own, he might get enough money to support his eldest son's training for a merchant.

"Good day, what food have you cooked for us today?" he asked his wife as he stepped into his house. 

"We made some fish-soup, and Tereni helped me with the vegetables. The little girl is already learning to be a master-chef." she said happily. "How did the meeting go?" she asked casually.

"Well, I managed to rent more lands cheaply from the lord. With the income of next year, we will be able to send Domiho to Tear, where he will study with a merchant. Then after a few years we will be able to support the trade he chooses to take" he said with a hopeful gleam in his eye. His son had always been the smart one in the family , he though, and now he would become a merchant.

"That's good. Oh, we should eat while the food is warm. Too bad Domiho didn't seem to make it here today in time." Mihel's wife said and then moved towards the table. At the same time the two youngest boys in the family carried in the food at the same fashion they had seen the servants of the lord do. Mihel laughed softly and sat himself down to eat.

A little later, at about the time everyone had finished the half of their food, the outer door was kicked open from the outside, and five armoured me suddenly entered the room.

"Aah, entertainment! After five days of riding, don't you guys think we deserve a little" one of the new arrivals said to his friends. After vigorous nods from all of the other guys, one of them moved onto Mihel.

"If you try anything, all of your family dies, and then you die. Got it?" the person said angrily to Mihel. Mihel started almost weeping, and nodded surrendedly. After he was finished, the person who had spoken up before started moving towards Mihel's wife. She tried to move backwards, but stumbled on a chair, and before she could react, the man was on top of him.

As the children noticed what was going on, they all started screaming. The men seemed annoyed by this, and the man on top of Mihel's wife said to his men to shut them up in any way necessary. As soon as they understood what he meant, and pushed aside what was left of their morals, two of them moved towards the children and quickly killed them all.

One of the men who had managed to cut one of the boys totally in half, said "Blood and ashes, that was easy. I wonder how that would look in battle, don't you think.".

When Mihel saw what they had done, he tried to attack them with his bare fists, but before he even had managed to land a punch somewhere, his throat was cut up by the man guarding him. The man stared in amazement as at the amount of blood that came out of Mihel. "Light, I didn't know a human had even that much blood in him."

Mihel's wife was in no position to notice what the men had done, and even if she had, she couldn't do anything about it. At the time that all the men had been on her, and she noticed what else they had done, she was only glad that the men decided to unify her with her family.

"We should burn the house. I hear that's what you do after something like this" one of the men said. He almost looked surprised when he noticed what exactly he had done.

"Good idea Guiran! We should also take some of their food. The army just can compare." he said while grinning a bit. "Then we move out".

Domiho walked was just about to finish the last hill before his home. He had always wondered why the creator had chosen to put one range of hills in this entire province, and that hill was between his house and the town he studied with a local merchant with. At least he would get some food now, he though.

When he reached the peak of the hill, he noticed five men with horses outside his house, and before he could think of any reason for them being there, one of them had thrown a torch into the house. The house took fire almost completely, and as soon as he understood what had happened, he started running towards the house.

Fernadoes Cortsen sat at his small field table. Three days ago had received orders to move a light cavalry group into Valdemons lands, to prepare for the follow invasion. He though about how joyful he had been to receive the honour of getting command of his own group. Nowadays he saw how much work it was.

As he had finished his thoughts, his second in command came in to the tent. "Sergeant Helnon reporting sir! I have finished my patrol, and taken a view of the surrounding countryside as you said. We came upon a few hills, and used their height to see further, quickly. A small farm was beside one of the hills, and they gave us food as we told them what we are fighting for." he said in a shouting manner.

Fernadoes replied "Good sergeant." calmly, but he was curious why Helnon had a grin on his face. Nothing important that he could think of, although that hill was good. The army might use it for a lookout post.

"Did you see any military detachments?" he asked just to be sure.

"No sir, only two undefended villages, one to the northwest, the other one to the southwest of here" he said, almost shouting again. Fernadoes was annoyed at the voice level of the man, but he had already decided he could do little against it without breaking any laws.

"Good, then we will move out soon. Make ready to break camp; I want you to be finished when I have finished my letter to the generals. With no army, and the people loyal to our cause, they can move into here quite safely. We on the other hand, can move west, and notice any incoming army" he said while examining the map on the table.

"Yes sir" Helnon replied normally, and with those words moved out of the tent.

At the same time, the rebel High-Lords Sunamon, Cerandin and Carlomin were meeting in High-Lord Carlomin's Palace in Godan.

"Well, how could this have happened. We all agreed to not attack before diplomacy was over, but you!" Sunamon said while pointing at Carlomin "You attacked them almost as soon as your army was at the border. Why did you do that?" he almost shouted.

After a few seconds, Carlomin said plainly "If you are foolish enough to believe we could bargain ourselves out of this, you do not deserve to be at this table. They would never have accepted anything less than seeing our heads on a plate. It was better to attack before they could react. My armies should already have attacked the border-forts, and soon we will fight in greater battles.". As he finished his line, he sat himself down lazily at a chair and called for the servants to bring some wine.

Just as Sunamon was about to reply to Carlomin, Cerandin spoke out "My informants tell me that almost everyone of our enemies has put their armies in Sanchez lands. If we do not stick together now, we will lose quickly.", after which he said while looking at Sunamon "We cannot undo what has been done, and now we must go full length into this war. You ought to send your armies to the northwest, and we will attack Sanchez lands from both the southeast and east. I will attack Valdemons lands, and perhaps they will be pressured to move away some of their forces. I have been keeping close contact with my generals, and they say that scouts reports tell of almost no forces there."

After a while Sunamon nodded, but said with a scent of anger "I will do so, but the both of you should remember that trust runs two ways. I will trust you to keep me informed and to coordinate attacks with me, and you will do the same. That means especially you, Carlomin.". After his words, he departed quickly from the room. Cerandin looked accusingly on Carlomin, and after that he also walked out, leaving Carlomin sitting on a chair, drinking the wine that the servant had brought to him.

Weiramon sat in a chair with five around a small table in a field tent. As he looked at them, he dreamed of how they one day would call him King. Even now they had chosen him to lead the offence here. He was happy about it, and a small smile on his face made the other High-Lords wonder what he was smiling at.

Weiramon spoke out "Now, I, Andiama, Belman and Belorna will move a spearhead trough the middle of the front, masking it as our only attack. As they will rush all that they have to counter our attack, Amalsin will move in an army from the north, and Sanchez will move in from the south. If they by some means survive our main attack, the flanks will kill them anyway." he said while pointing with his finger on the map. Then he looked up on High-Lord Sanchez "The conscripts from your lands will prove themselves to be useful, although our cavalry will most probably kill the little they have left. The foolish attacks they made on the border-garrisons killed most of their cavalry it seems like".

The High-Lords nodded soon after, although Weiramon though he saw some hesitation in Sanchez and Amalsin. He dismissed it as thinking it was just himself.

Retin Chialin stood guard outside be captains tent. For some reason unknown to him he had been selected to be one of the standard guards there. It was boring to stand there almost every day he though, but he took some joy in knowing more about what was going on than most of the soldiers in the camp. Two days ago a letter-pigeon had arrived, and since then they had been moving with a steady pace towards the southeast. 

"Hey Retin, you heard what has happened at the east front", his guard-comrade said to him. "They say that the Rebels have moved an army across the border. I guess that is what we are marching against. From what I believe we will meet with several other groups, and attack the rebels in a glorious field battle. What you think?". As he finished his line he quickly glanced into the captains tent to check out that he had not heard.

"Someone once said that the only thing sadder than a battle is a battle lost. I think he was right" Retin said calmly, although inside him he finished the line with "and everyone who says otherwise is a very stupid man".

Right then a voice said from inside the tent. "You are quite correct. We are marching towards our main army, but you don't have to worry about dying. They say that the enemy has lost all its cavalry, and with the numbers we have, we infantrymen won't have to fight at all.

Retin answered "You are quite right, sir", while looking at his friends grinning face. "We won't have to die" he finished the line with.

Ricao looked at the burning tower. The commoners in this area had tried to protect their lord with their lives, claiming he was a good lord. Soon after he and some of his friends had been ordered to launch fire-arrows at the tower they were hiding in. He had not liked to see the burning bodies trying to save their lives by jumping out of the windows, or the screams of terror from inside the tower, but he had said to his friend who had barfed "What must be done, must be done. Only the cause is important, not the means how you get to it". His friend seemed to have accepted it, but as Ricao looked at the tower, he too wondered whether some prices were too high to pay.

Right then his commander tapped him on the shoulder "Worry not about killing those. We will meet with the bulk of our army in a few days." he said calmly.

"Yes sir. But may I ask, then what?" Ricao said calmly. The main-army, he though. He had heard that they were many, almost ten thousand, but several of them only had a spear or a sword. Of course he had a sword too, and a spear, and a crossbow. But he had good steel armour too. He didn't like that all the time, as he was forced to keep it on at all times, even during the night. It was long since he had gotten a good nights sleep. But he wondered whether he would trade all that to losing his armour. Fighting without it was not his favourite dream.

"We will probably move against the main-enemy army. And then onward to Tear" he said, as it was the most natural thing in the world.

Domiho stood watching out of a window in a small farmhouse, how a large smoke pillar rose up from the plains. He and several others had begun to fight the rebel army as soon as they had moved in. They were mostly farmers and other who had lost their families in the battles. The lords and trained soldiers had almost all died at the hands of the trained rebel armies. Last night he had led a group to set fire upon the food stores of a group set in this area. Now he watched a pillar of smoke rise from the same place that the village of Nidano had once stood.

"By the creator, what animals could do such a thing" said Jueno, one of Domiho closest men, while looking at the pillar.

"Rebels could do such a thing, and only them. Feel lucky we saw this coming, and almost everyone left the village last night." Domiho replied calmly back. He though about what the rebels would do when they found farms full with people, far too many to be permanently living there. But that was a problem for another day he concluded.

At the moment he had finished his though, the outer door strung open, and almost everyone had begun to draw their swords before they saw that it was just the scouts they had sent out.

"They are moving against us. Four or five hundred soldiers. They will be here in maybe 30 minutes. They don't have any cavalry, but they march fast. Someone at the village must have told them where we are…" the scout said.

"We are only about fifty. The plan is simple. We pack up everything and move out. We will be long gone by the time they are here." Domiho said quickly.

"I was just coming to that. They have surrounded us, and five groups are closing in on us from every direction. There is no way we can escape, if we do, one or two groups would spot us, and we would be forced to fight them too." the scout said. 

"One group is easier to fight then five. We move out. Westwards." Domiho said. If he was fast enough, he might be able to escape unharmed.

Domiho stood around and gave orders for the next ten minutes, shouting at everyone who wasn't fast enough in packing. He could afford to lose a single sword, and everything had to carried by the people, as carts would take too long to move. As soon as everyone had packed fully, they started moving out, with the scouts forward a bit to see if any of the groups was moving against them.

They had only marched for about seven minutes, when the scouts returned. "Domiho, an enemy groups is five minutes in that direction" he said while pointing towards where they were heading "If we continue like this, and they too, we will meet in two minutes, maybe a bit more. But there is no way we can hide from them".

"Light!" Domiho said. He seemed to be thinking for a while, and everyone in the group was expecting, and terrified of what he might say next. "If we cannot hide, then we must fight. We march for a minute still, then we take off our packing, take out our swords and bows, and fight." And so they did, and quite soon they reached the enemy group, which seemed didn't seem surprised to meet them.

"After we are in range, we shoot arrows at them, and then we charge in a wedge formation" Domiho said calmly, making sure that everyone understood. Some asked what a wedge was, and were explained to that it was generally a V formation.

The enemy group was closing in on them, and as Domiho looked at the sides, he several of his comrades reading their bows, and sweat dropping from their faces. The only one who didn't seem worried, was Jonael, one of the few survivors from the lords army. He had chosen to lead the wedge, and didn't seem worried to die. Domiho wondered whether he was fool enough to believe that he could survive.

As the enemy army came close enough, he noticed that they were formed as a loose box formation. The arrows they shot had some effect, but few of the enemies had fallen, Domiho noticed. He could do nothing but admire the leader of them.

"They are too close now. Draw swords, and charge at when Jonael moves" Domiho shouted to his troops. He shouted very loudly, and it seemed the enemy commander had heard. Domiho heard about an inverted something, but he considered it too late to change his plans. He noticed the enemy grouping in closely, and assumed that it was standard tactics. He was about to wonder what they were about to do, but too late, as Jonael had started running, and the rest of the group with him.

"Look, they are retreating." someone beside Domiho said. He looked up too see what was happening, and he a quick glance showed him that the enemy seemed to be pulling back. But soon he noticed that only the middle of the enemy group was pulling back, the edges were still standing. When he saw that his wedge was charging right into a trap, it was already too late for him to do anything.

Jonael was chopped up by three different swords before he could even land a stroke somewhere, Domiho noticed, and several others had already fallen, which was the last time he could look at how the overall battle was going.

He stood against two men, one very tall, almost a head taller then Domiho, the other one about his size. Domiho thanked the gods that he had trained to be a swordsman too, although his father hadn't wished that. But still he couldn't fight two men, with almost no space to move on. He seemed to be a better swordsman than the two others, and even managed to land a few strokes on them. But every time that happened, he cursed their armour, which allowed them to ignore his strokes. He tried several of the different sword forms he had trained during the years, holding names that were of no importance of him now, as he could less and less attack, and had to more and more defend. He though he was dead, when one of his soldiers at his right side fell down, and another enemy can against him. He was just about to try to fall back and run, when the new enemy soldier suddenly had an arrow trough his head. He stood gaping at all the blood that sprouted out, and so did his two enemies. He was quicker to overcome the surprise than they, and before they could react, he had cut off the leg of the long fellow. His friend looked down at him as he screamed of pain and terror, and when the man looked up again against Domiho, the last thing he saw was the edge of Domihos sword, heading towards his head.

The man down at the ground saw his friend fall, and Domiho moving towards him. He tried desperately to fend off Domihos swords, but was soon cut down.

"Thank you my friend" Domiho said backwards, hoping that the man who had shot the arrow would still be there. As he glanced backwards, he noticed someone standing there with a horse and a bow.

"You must go now, sir. Someone of us must survive this battle to tell other what the rebels have done. You are the best candidate, so go." the man said to Domiho, with a hopeful glance is his eye.

"Yes, someone must survive" Domiho said slowly. He though about how his father had told him "Live to fight another day", and he did not feel like dieing, even if he felt that he somehow betrayed his troops. "I will go now" he said, and quickly jumped up on the horse.

"Live long and healthy, Domiho" the man said. Domiho though he was about to say something else, a silvery edge stood out of his stomach, and a rebel soldier stood behind him. Domiho realized that he had gotten a sword trough him, and the only thing he could do was to complete the mans final wish. At least that is what he tried to tell himself.

Domiho survived, as leaders do, and retreated to the next village, and the next, and the next, and so forth as the rebels moved forward. He fought in several skirmishes, some he won, other he lost, but he could never forgive himself for abandoning his troops that day, near the village of Nidano.

High-Lord Valdemon stood in his bedroom at his castle, overlooking the city. Two days ago the rebel army had reached his capital, and put a siege on it. His city had only maybe twentyfive-thousand people living in it, as the city taxes got bigger the larger the city was, usually. His guard was only seven hundred men large, and from what he had been told, the enemy army was almost five thousand men large. Looking outside the city walls, he believed it. After one day of siege, they had sent a message to him. It had simply stated "_Surrender to us and you may live, fight us, and you may not. Greetings from High-Lord Cerandin_". After Valdemons initial response, almost throwing out the messenger from the window, he had given the message much though. The city-walls were high, but thin, and with a catapult or battering ram, they would fall easily. How much time until they had finished building one. Three days? A week? No, surely not that much even. From what he had seen, they were quite trained and disciplined.

Valdemon walked out of his room, and told the servant outside his room "Send for a writer. I wish to send a letter to the rebels". As the servant left, Valdemon though about all his years as a High-Lord. There was always a servant outside his door, always within an arms reach, even if he went to battle. But he had never believed, never hoped, to send them on an errand like this.

Soon after the writer arrived. Valdemon stated, "Take up this letter. I will dictate for you", and with a sigh, he began to talk "_Dear High-Lord Cerandin. I write you this letter, as a surrender to your army with these term. All my lands, armies and commoners will be under your command until the war ends, and in return, after the war ends, if you win, I will be allowed to rule at least the lands that are still under my command, not invaded by your armies, and that I will not be kept in a cell until that time. High-Lord Valdemon"_. The writer looked up in surprise a few times, but kept on writing. When he was finished, he looked up to Valdemon with a hopeful look in his eyes, and said, "Whatever you think, you did the right choice here today", and gave the letter to High-Lord Valdemon for him to put his seal in wax on.

"The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills" Valdemon replied back, and signed the letter. After the writer had left the room, Valdemon finished the sentence with "But sometimes it doesn't weave the right way, and then you die".

High-Lord Cerandin stood outside his field tent, looking the capital of Valdemon's province, Endearo. The white flag was flying over the city gates and the castle. About half an hour ago, a messenger from Valdemon had come to him with a message of surrender. Cerandin was surprised at how fast Valdemon had surrendered, but pleased that he could move his army forward again. And with almost one thousand men more in his ranks. That information seemed to have spread in the city like wildfire, and the main gates were already opened, and some of the commoners had come out to greet the army. Yes, he was very pleased with the current events, Cerandin concluded.

"Sergeant, inform my personal guard that I wish to enter the city. Tell them to be ready." he said to the young sergeant beside him. As the man walked away, Cerandin considered the different possibilities on how to enter the city.

A while later, Cerandin and his personal guard started entered the city-gates. It seemed that someone had though that he might need more defence than just his guard, and had ordered an entire banner-group of five hundred men to march after his into the city.

"It seems as if everyone in this city is pleased that we have come" he said to the captain of his guard. It seemed most of the city's population had come to see the army marching in. Some shouted things like "Our saviours" and "The heroes of the commoners". Other were not so happy, and tried to attack the army with their bare fists, although they were beaten down by the rest usually.

"Make sure that we set up some recruitment posts in this city, I believe that we will get several soldiers from here" Cerandin said to his captain again.

As they approached the castle, Cerandin noticed that the gates to it were open, and several of the workers were there to meet them. High-Lord Valdemon himself stood at by the door to inside the castle, and some of the lords of the land were beside him, but almost not so many as he had heard where inside the castle at this time. "I wonder where the rest of the lords are. It's possible they are behind the servants and such, but I don't think anyone of them would want to look like they scorn us, lest we maybe will kill them. Or so they would believe." Cerandin said to his captain of the guards.

But when he entered the castle grounds Cerandin realized why so few lords were there. He saw fifteen to twenty men jump out of the windows of the castle. Some had ropes around their necks, and died fast, others did not, and fell to the ground, dieing in pain. Cerandin was quite surprised of what had happened, but when he noticed what clothes the corpses were wearing, he realized why so few lords were at the castle grounds, well, alive at least.

"Aah, Valdemon, it seems some of your friends didn't quite accept the fact of surrendering to us. Well, good riddance, don't you think." Cerandin said to Valdemon with a small smile on his face.

"Dead, all dead. Pernocaes, one of my best friends, is hanging there from a rope, and you ask how I feel. No matter, they are dead, and dead people are silent. What will you do with the rest of us?" Valdemon said, almost crying.

"Are you actually that stupid, Valdemon? Where else? Godan of course, where you will be an honourable guest for a while". Cerandin stated "And as for the rest of you, we might need some lords to rule here, but not that many, so you need to show your obedience to me, now". As he finished his line almost all of the lords fell on their knees, and pledged loyalty. That day something happened that might have changed the course of war, had there been more, just a few more to pledge loyalty.

Fernadoes Cortsen sat upon his horse. A few hours ago he had received pigeon-mail that the main army had started a siege of Endearo. Before they had crossed the border, they had received orders to not move more than ten-days march from the main army.

"Ok men, let's set up a camp right here. There is a small stream over there" he said while pointing to the northeast", which will give us water. They have started a siege of this provinces capital, and sieges usually last several months, but almost certainly a week or so."

"Water, who in the name of the creator needs water! It has been raining for the past two days here, and it seems to get worse all the time. Our damn armour might rust, and the less said about the swords, the better. Let's taker over a small village, and get some good solid roof over our heads" Helnon cried out, and most of the men seemed to agree with him.

"Our orders are simple. Stay undetected, and report. If we take over a village, well, we are too far from the front to get any help from our army, and the local lord would certainly attack us imminently. We will wait for an order by pigeon or otherwise before we move out" Fernadoes said loudly.

Helnon seemed to understand that Fernadoes was right, but still said " Do you think that anything that flies could come from Endearo to here, alive. The next order we will be from the main army, that just marched on our tents".

"Maybe, but at least we get to rest until that time, and few land-armies would move at this time, and only a fool would move a fleet, so we and the rest our army can rest easily", Fernadoes said in a calm fashion.

High-Lord Selorna stood at the deck of the flagship in the Tairen fleet, a large wooden destroyer, with three decks for firing fire-arrows at enemy ships. It had begun to rain a few days ago, and now the rain was gushing down. The wind was getting strength every-day, and it was blowing to the northwest, making it hard move against Godan at all. How much he had hoped to capture it, and give the rebel heads on a plate to his comrades. Not much chance of that happening now.

"Captain, could you tell me, in land terms, where exactly we are right now, and if we are able to move forward in this storm", Selorna said to the man captaining the flagship, and thus the whole fleet, who stood by the roar at the deck. Selorna hadn't really taken any part in the fleet business. He was not like the other stupid High-Lords who liked to play soldiers and generals, with the basic strategy being a charge. He didn't even pretend to know anything about ships, and had left the entire business to the captain of the flagship. Until now that is.

"Well, in land terms, we should be a day or two from the coast of Valdemons lands. One day to the northwest, two to the northeast, because of the winds. And no, I do not believe we will be able to reach Godan. If the weather continues to worsen like this, soon we will lose our first ship, and then the whole fleet, milord" the captain said while trying his best to hold on to the roar.

"I hear that Valdemons lands have been invaded. Move northeast, and prepare to disembark the army." and with those words Selorna left for under the deck, hoping not to get thrown overboard by the winds.

Ricao Tzuni stood in the middle-ring guard outside the main camp of the army. They had made camp upon a large, but not very tall hill. The defences were set in three perimeters, with the outer one almost three miles from the camp, the middle one at the bottom of the hill, and the inner one was formed in almost a completely closed circle around the camp.

"This is stupid. The outer guard would spot any incoming army, and we could prepare ourselves in fifteen minutes to take full defensive posture. We or the men at the inner guard do need to be here" he said angrily to the guard next to him. They had been assigned in pairs, as much for security to not kill the men from boredom, he though.

"Yeah. Anyways, see those dark clouds to the west. I hardly suppose that any army would march quickly in that, except if there were paved roads all the way, something we Tairens are not famous for having. Trust me, they will either come tomorrow, or they will not come at all", the man replied back. "And I do hope that they come. We spent almost four days digging these hidden trenches to kill their cavalry, and cutting down the forest to make arrows. If they don't come, we will have to go after them, and they would not be a pleasant experience."

Retin Chialin marched in good order, with almost fifty thousand other men beside him. Two days ago they had learned that the bulk of the rebel army was camped about three days from where they were then. Now it was only one day left.

"Well, think of the good side" Kunao, the man Retin had met during his first battle said to him.

"Which is?" he replied back.

"From what I have heard, we outnumber them five to one, and they don't have any cavalry left, we took care of that, didn't we" Kunao said with a small grin on his face. "Besides, looking at the cavalrymen at our side, they are likely to charge as soon as they can, to make sure that we infantry-guys don't get any glory in the battle at all. They are even talking about that some high-lord will join the charge with them."

Retin though about that for a while, and started smiling a bit on the prospect that the battle would be over before he had come to the enemy.

High-Lord Weiramon stood in his tent, conferring with the rest of the high-lords. How happy he was with himself, managing to take full control over the rest of the high-lords during this campaign. The others would be a problem of course, but they would fall easily when the men in this room proclaimed him king. Oh yes, things were going to be good.

"Well, our attack plan is simple. We will mount the all of the infantry here," and pointed at a place just out of the range of archers", and form our cavalry in a four-man thick line, stretching over the entire battlefield. Then we charge in with full strength, with me leading the attack. High-Lord Belorna will lead the infantry from here, although I don't believe that it will be necessary, since we have almost two-thousand cavalrymen, and they have only ten-thousand infantry totally. Does anyone have any questions?"

Noone seemed to be willing to speak up, until Andiama said "Well, firstly what about our archers. Granted, they are not so many, but we could muster considerable damage to the enemy. Secondly, why don't we move in some of our infantry or cavalry to flank the enemy. And thirdly… never mind about the third part".

"It might take a full day to sneak in any flanks, and we need to move quickly. Unless we attack tomorrow, the rain that has just started dripping down this evening will probably turn into a full storm in two or three days, making it impossible for us to charge. As for the archers, there is no honour gained in using those. Now, move out, all of you" he said, quite calmly even. Aah, how he dreamed of the day that all of those would bow to him.

Outside however, the soldiers in the camp wondered what High-Lord Andiama meant when he said "Thirdly, are you actually stupid enough to believe that you can simply charge upwards, in muddy ground, towards pikemen. They must be smart enough to have pikemen, you know." , but the soldiers who heard it simply dismissed it as high-lord business, not wanting to get involved.

Ricao Tzuni stood almost at the front row of the army. At about midnight, one of their scouts had returned at told the commander of the army that the enemy was camped just about five miles from them, or at least that was how the most common rumour went in the camp. Now however, it didn't matter very much, because as he was looking out over the enemy, it seemed he had no chance of winning. He knew that his side has almost ten thousand men in the ranks, most of them well trained. That side could have as many as sixty thousand, maybe more, he though, and right at the front of them, there was a quite thin looking line, but it was as wide as the full army. All of them cavalry.

Someone who stood beside him said "Aah, cavalry. Maybe three thousand of them. With a little luck, they won't crush the entire army, with great luck, some of they might fall into those stupid ditches we dug yesterday.".

Ricao looked at the man. He was sure he had seen the man somewhere before, but he never cared to learn any names, since they were all going to day soon enough anyway. And that day was probably today. "I'm sure that is very comforting for those at the back, but unless you have noticed, we are not at the back, but at the front. As a matter of fact, there is only one line of men before us." he said to the man, almost shouting. Some other men in the ranks glanced towards his direction, and then quickly looked back again. They had been disciplined very hard, breaking any rules was not a good idea for anyone, even if they stood at the front row of death today.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, you are about to find out just how lucky you really are. It seems their cavalry has started to move forward, and they will be here in a minute or two. But look at the good side, with this rain now, if we win, the ground will be very muddy and nice to sleep on" the man said while widely grinning.

Ricao just though about what kind of man might be wanting to tell bad jokes when he was about to die.

Retin Chialin stood at the other side of the field, hearing how the cavalry had begun their charge. He couldn't see them of course, there were too many men before him, but he was happy that he could be able to see when their cavalry crushed the rebels on that small hill. He wouldn't have to fight at all he though.

Ricao was however not so pleased, looking as the cavalry had just begun to charge full speed. There were just about to charge over the ditches, and Ricao the only thing he could do now was to watch.

"All right men, soon we will be starting to rush upwards. Take full speed, and pull your swords" Weiramon shouted as he kicked the horse for more speed. He wondered whether it was a good idea to lead the charge, but it was too late for him to change his mind now.

"What is that on the ground, it seems different?" someone at his right side shouted. Shouting was the only way to talk here, as thousands of horses charging made a sound quite unlike anything other, and a loud one. Of course, with the speed they were moving, Weiramon never had time to look down at the ground, and all of a sudden, the horse seemed to fall down, and before he could react, he had fallen the ditch. Almost all of the front line of cavalry had fallen into the hole too, few had time to see what was happening, and few of those had time to do anything about it.

"What happ…" were the last words uttered by High-Lord Weiramon, and his last sight was black speck with a horseshoe, covering his sight, and crushing his head totally.

At the rebel army, the men were quite surprised. "Look even some of the second and third line seem to have fallen, and the fourth line is stumbling on the bodies of other horses. This is almost ta'veren luck." someone said out loudly in the front-line. Ricao could do nothing but agree. But there were still almost a third of the cavalry still charging forward. "Form Spears" went the order.

Retin stood still in the loyal army, not knowing about what had happened. There had been screams and shouting in the front lines, but the army was too big for that talk to spread down to the middle of it.

Right then Retin saw as the cavalry, or what was left of it, rushed up towards the hill "Wait! What happened to the rest of them, that's less than half. What is happening here". With those words the cavalry crushed into the rebels, but were soundly killed by an incredible line of spears. The first five lines all held spears against the cavalry. Retin just watched as one cavalryman after another fell down. Of course, the cavalry was still in quite closed formation, and the entire battle lasted only seconds. The rest of the cavalry had begun to flee as soon as they noticed what was happening to the other cavalrymen.

The armies stood quiet for almost ten minutes, both sides waiting for the other one to do something, until a lone soldier from the rebel army started marching forward.

"When in the light is he doing? Is he stupid or something?" Ricao said as he saw the man marching forward. Everyone on both sides seemed to be wondering who or what the man was.

"What do you think he is?", High-Lord Andiama, seemingly commander of the loyalist army now that Weiramon had not returned from the cavalry charge, said. "Do you think he comes with a message", he said to one of the generals from his lands.

"Perhaps." the man replied. "Lets wait and see." he ended the line with, letting the man come within archery range.

Both sides nervously waiting to see what the man was doing. When he shot an arrow towards the loyalist army, their unrest level suddenly escalated, the men at the front row hoping they had good, tower-shields.

"It might be that the arrow had a message attached to it, milord" the general said to Andiama, and received an agreeing nod as a reply. However Andiamas nervousness about what the arrow contained ended quickly, when it hit him, punching trough his armour, into his stomach. Before he collapsed from his horse, he got to see that the arrow was just an arrow, no message whatsoever.

As the men at the front row saw that their leader had fallen from a lone arrow, shot from just about the range of a normal bow, it took little to convince them that the rebel army was unbeatable, and within minutes, all of the infantry was fleeing backwards, from an enemy a fifth their size.

In the rebel army, the mood was incredibly surprised as they saw their enemies run away in terror. Ricao said to the man beside him "Well, I wish you so much luck sleeping on the mud you were so looking forward to before this battle begun."

And as for the loyalist army, High-Lord Andiama returned as trough a miracle, the arrow had just missed his any vital organs it seemed like. Fourtythousand men were grouped together again, and what was left of the cavalry. As for the rest, they were never regrouped, but in truth, some joined the rebels, some went home. Others, few killed themselves in despair.


	4. Chapter III, Storms from the Sides

# Chapter III

Storms from the Sides

Fernadoes lied on the ground in a small groove, holding down his horse and making sure his men didn't make a sound. Half a day ago, some men with horses had attacked them. The rain had damped any sound of incoming enemies, and no one had noticed them before it was too late. Fernadoes felt lucky to have saved half his forces, although he was totally outnumbered now. He didn't even see any chance of surprising them, what little he could see of them, they all looked ready for any kind of attack.

Right then he noticed that Helnon had crawled up to him, and even more surprised as Helnon whispered instead of his usual shouting "Sir, what do we do now? I don't think we can hide here forever, although I don't believe the rain will stop anytime soon".

Fernadoes replied in the same voice "We tried outrunning them for almost half a day, right after they attacked us. Anyway, it will be dark soon, and with both the rain to remove our sounds, and the night to make us invisible, we will just walk away. Then we run to Endearo and report what has happened here. Simple and effective".

High-Lord Sunamon sat upon his horse, in the absolute front of his men. He had heard that this improved morale, although he supposed the damn rain washed away any morale-help he might give. Damn this rain, damn these enemies, damn these light forsaken rainstorms, he muttered about.

Right then he noticed someone picking on his shoulder: "Milord, the scouts you sent out have returned with disturbing news. There seems to be an army almost the size of your moving this way from the northeast. The scouts couldn't tell if they were friends or not, and they weren't anxious to get close enough to ask" the man reported to him.

Hmm, enemies here, Sunamon pondered. Surely they didn't know he was here, or did they. Well, sometimes you just got lucky, that man during the war of the Dragon Reborn, what was his name again, Cauttion or something like that, he was surely lucky. Too lucky for some even. He was a ta'veren even, or so he Sunamon recalled. Anyway, luck was important, this was an event too good to be true.

"Tell my generals that I wish to meet them, now!" and with a little scent of anger in his voice, he managed to get the man running, quite, quite fast.

A few minutes later, three men came up to him, with worried looks on their faces. Sunamon smiled a bit while looking at Jariel. The man had always insisted on wearing full plate armour, now it seemed like he had gotten his armour filled with cold rainwater. Sunamon could do nothing but smile.

As soon as the generals had rounded up around him, Sunamon spoke out "There is an enemy army to the northwest. I want you to make a plan to defeat them. Ask the scouts about their exact location. Move out." And with those words, the generals backed off in unison. Sunamon though was happy that he had come to realize that the truth wasn't important, just what was perceived as the truth. He could let his generals do all the work, and then claim to be a great leader and ruler, and his battles would prove him right, never mind what his generals might say. Who would the commoners and lord believe anyway? I High-Lord who brought justice and peace to the land, or some generals whose name few had ever heard.

Retin Chialin rested in a tent at one of the several small camps that held what was once the main army of the loyal forces. He had tried to escape, to run back to his farm, his wife. But the wheel didn't will it, it seemed to him. Some horsemen had found him, and after trying to resist, he was knocked out by a pike of some sorts, and the next thing he knew was the he woke up in a tent at a camp somewhere. Several others had tried to run away too, it seemed like. He hoped some of them had succeeded.

Just as he was about to try to sleep, he received a kick in his side. "Wake up you worthless commoner. You will report with the rest of the group at the main square, NOW!", and with the last shout, Retin received another kick in his ribs.

"Oh well, I guess I don't have much of a choice, do I? Rest here and get kicked to pieces, or stand up there and probably get kicked anyway for being late." Retin though out loud, and quickly skipped out of the tent, noticing that the main square was almost full already. He tried to sneak into the group without being noticed as being late, and seemingly succeeded.

Just as the last entered the group, a man at a small podium before the group spoke up. "Almost all of you fled after the battle of the dead horse-mans hill. You will learn to obey the army once again. Any orders you receive will be completed at once. The man what finishes last, isn't working hard enough, and will be flogged publicly." and at those words, two soldiers picked up the man who had joined the group last, and started moving him towards some poles in the ground. "You will always look at me when I am talking to you. Now, where was I, oh yes. Everybody fights to the end, or nobody in the group eats for two days. If anyone in any group complains, then the punishment will be that the entire group will run around the camp twenty times. Now, am I understood?" he finished with. A large "Yes Sir" came from the entire camp at once, and Retin was quite surprised to finding the words come out of his mouth as well.

What in the light have I been taken into, I must run, he quickly though, but as he looked up at the man who had come to the formation, he quickly changed his mind about that.

Ricao was lying down in someone's tent at the main camp. After the victory over the loyalist army, there had been feasting for three full days, and from what he had heard, some five-thousand commoners from the loyalists had come to party with them, and stayed. Of course, in his condition, after three days of drinking, the last thing he wanted to think about was the army.

"Oh light. I swear that the Dark One tainted alcohol, giving it the hangover effect. The Lord Dragon should have cleaned that too while he was alive. They say he could do anything", so voice at the other side of the small tent said to Ricao. Ricao had his eyes closed, but assumed from the sound of it that the man had turned to his side, probably facing him.

"I don't think anyone would have dared ask the Dragon Reborn to do something. Anyways, I'm too tired to talk, so please." Ricao replied slowly. He had been drinking way too much. At least he was lucky in that no enemies had tried to attack them he figured. He also shuddered on when he though of what he had heard of the Dragon Reborn's doings.

After a minute or two of silence, Ricao heard that someone walked in trough the tent-flap. He shuddily said "Please go away, there is no room in this tent".

A sharp and angry voice shouted up "Solder, you will address my as sir. Within two hours, everyone will assembly at the centre of the camp. If someone doesn't come, we will consider him a deserter, and kill on sight. You got me, solder!" and with those sounds, the man departed from the tent.

As Ricao was thinking to himself how stupid he was, the other man said to him "I suppose they mean to divide us into groups, make sure that everyone is back in their original groups. You know, with everyone scattered around as we are now, this army is of no use. My uncle fought in the Legion of the Dragon, you know. Learned allot about military tactics, and told me all about it when I was young. Stupid me to wish I would fight in an army someday too. Stupid, stupid stupid…" and Ricao tried to get some small sleep while the man still complained about something.

About an hour later, Ricao stumbled out of the tent Not wanting to be late, he though. There, he later got reunited with his old group, and learned that their orders were to act as a small flanking unit, twenty miles north of the main army.

Well, there it is, the city of Endearo, High Lord Selorna said while overlooking the city. For a week they had marched against the city. There had been surpringsly little defence against the army, only some bandits and mobs of commoners had went against the army, and most of the bandits were just stupid or unlucky to meet them. The lords, if they could be called that anymore, High-Lord Selorna though, had walled themselves inside their castles. At the beginning when he had reached their castles, most of them had come out to pledge themselves to him. But after word got out that he hung everyone of them, less and less had dared to come out. Some castles had even been abandoned, with whatever scraps that could not be carried left in them.

He spoke out to the man next to him, "Let the word go that once I have taken this city, the defenders of it will be buried, alive or dead. And make sure they know that too." he said with a small grin on his face. Yes, today would be a very good day indeed he though as his army started moving around the city, some falling to defender arrows.

The Rebel High-Lord Sunamon sat upon his horse in the rain. He chuckled at the irony. Last time he had sat upon horse, in the lead of his soldiers, it was because he wanted to improve the morale of his men. That time he had received news of a loyalist army marching towards him, and ordered his men to ambush them.

It turned out that the loyalists had bribed the scout, and it was not the enemy that had been ambushed, but they had been the ones to lay the ambush. The battle had been terrible, and almost half of his forces had died before he could retreat. This time he sat on his horse so that everyone could see that he was still alive. At least it improved morale a bit, even more than the last time, he though while holding a small grin on his face. Now he was forced to flee.

He waved his hand to the one of his surviving generals, motioning him to come nearer. As the man came within range, Sunamon said. "We have lost this battle, but not the war. Unless everything has gone wrong, High-Lord Cerandin should be in control of Valdemon's old lands. I say we march towards the capital there, Endearo, and try to get some reinforcements." he said calmly.

The man replied "But what about the army on our tails. They will follow right after us, and that means that they will reach Endearo too."

Sunamon was angry at the man's stupidity, but still he managed to hold a calm voice "We have a choice. Stay here and fight, or go there and fight. In there we will have a greater chance of winning at least. Valdemon is known for building strong walls, no matter that he is almost as far from the national border that you can come. Stupid man, but useful now it seems like. We move, tell the men that" and with those words, moved his face forward, to the south.

The general though about his words for a while, and then replied "You are correct as always, milord. I will inform the men".

And with those words, the army started moving towards what they though was a safe land, but it was something fully else now.

High-Lord Amalsin looked out over all his soldiers, thinking at their stupidity. Oh yes, if he would be one of them, he would join the rebels within a minute. They were fighting for the commoner's rights after all. Of course, he was not a one of them, but something better. He was a lord. A High-Lord even, although somehow that had mattered little when Weiramon sent him to lead the north flank. He supposed Weiramon wanted only those most loyal to him beside him. Hopefully he would die of a commoner's arrow, Amalsin though.

This morning he had received notes from his informant in the rebel army. Another thing that surprised him about war was that nothing was ever in the story. In a gleeman's tale, this information would have came from an honourful scout or other kind of horseman, who had ridden seven days and seven nights to bring him this info. Only that had not happened, instead one of his contacts in Carlomins lands had bribed one of the rebel soldiers for a pitiful sum of one gold crown. And by paying in Tar Valonian gold, the man was probably sure that he worked for the Aes Sedai witches.

The note said that the rebel army had routed the bulk of the loyalist army. His army Amalsin though with a grin on his face. The word was that High-Lord Weiramon had been killed in battle, as well as the rest of the cavalry. There had been a body wearing High-Lord clothes spiked upon a pole, but the face was smashed beyond recognition. It didn't say exactly how far they were from his army, but considering on the name of a town named in the letter, the army was probably only a seven days march to the west. A fast march though, but Amalsin was happy he had studied the tactics used by General Cauthon during the War of the Dragon Reborn. The army had sent scouting parties out. Well, not exactly scouting parties, they were too big to be called that, but none of them had been sent to the back. This was going to be great, High-Lord Amalsin though.

"Tell the men that we will march to the west now. And I want to make atleast 20 miles each day. 25 would be better, but I think that this lot will only manage 20. Have I made myself clear?" he said to one of his servants beside him. With a loud "Yes milord!" from the man, the man ran out to tell the commanders of the banner groups.

To be continued.

Please write some reviews. I do love comments.


End file.
